Business is about to pick up at Fox Ridge State Park.

With summer approaching quickly, the park will receive a larger flow of visitors looking to take in the 2,064 acres of scenery.

Located eight miles south of Charleston, Fox Ridge is visited by several thousand people per month.

“Most of our traffic is local, but we do pull a few people off the interstate,” said Park Superintendent Glenn Lyons.

Fox Ridge offers outdoor activities including camping, fishing in the Embarrass River, horseback riding, hunting and picnicking.

The area also hosts an array of wildlife, including deer, fox, raccoons, owls and hawks.

But the park’s eight-mile hiking trail seems to be its largest draw for residents.

“Hiking is probably our biggest attraction this time of the year,” Lyons said.

Ridge Lake is also a large attraction for fishing enthusiasts, with its large population of bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish.

The lake also provides fishing gear for novice fishers.

“The way we have it set up, people with no resources for fishing can come out here and fish a whole day,” said Matt Diana, director of Ridge Lake.

Ridge Lake also hosts a research lab that monitors the lake’s fish population and measures fish that are taken out of the water.

In spite of the park’s many visitors, Lyons said the park’s cleanliness doesn’t become a greater issue during the summer.

“We’ve found that if we keep the park pretty well-cleaned, the visitors follow suit,” Lyons said.

Diana said although he and his staff keep the area around the lake clean, as biologists they try not to disturb the lake itself.

“We’re more interested in the natural process in the lake, so we try not to touch anything,” Diana said.

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During the summer months, the park staff will look to appeal to younger visitors through educational programs and activities.

One such activity is a “bug night,” centered on the numerous insect breeds that the park hosts. A naturalist will hang a white bed sheet in the air and place a light behind it. Visitors can watch as insects attach themselves to the sheet.

The naturalist in question is usually an Eastern student on scholarship, funded by the Fox Ridge Foundation.

Each weekend, the park visitor center will also have an educational theme that focuses on a certain animal in the park.

To reserve fishing gear, or space for picnicking or camping, Fox Ridge State Park can be reached at (217) 345-6416.

Rob Siebert can be reached at 581-7942 or at rjsiebert@eiu.edu.